· 59 comments · Save ·
News & Current Events Apr 29, 2026 at 6:38 PM

Fed holds interest rates steady as prices surge amid Iran war

Posted by YesterShill

Fed chair Jerome Powell says he will stay on central bank's board after term expires next month
ABC News
Fed chair Jerome Powell says he will stay on central bank's board after term expires next month
The Fed held interest rates steady on Wednesday.
🚩 Report this post

59 Comments

Sign in to comment — or just click the box below.
🔒 Your email is never shown publicly.
Flash_ina_pan Apr 29, 2026 +405
Kevin going to put the economy in the ditch as soon as he takes the wheel. Immediate rate cut and inflation out of control.
405
Zardotab Apr 29, 2026 +230
Richard Nixon's pressure on the Fed R. partially resulted in the 2nd worst recession after the Great Depression. Yes, D***, you *are* a crook, and so is Donald.
230
stitchface66 Apr 30, 2026 +24
i believe the covid 19 recession ranks after 07-09. even then 73-75 would probably still rank after 81-82.
24
ricosmith1986 Apr 30, 2026 +7
What do they all have in common? 🤔
7
Zardotab Apr 30, 2026 +9
White collar professions generally did okay during Covid, but hospitality workers and certain retail got hit hard. The duration of high unemployment during pandemic was relatively short-lived, as people were eager to get out and about after being sequestered, and had stimulus money to spend. So, it's a matter of perspective. As far as 73-75, the early 80's recession was bigger.
9
roosterthumper Apr 29, 2026 +100
He can’t cut rates in a vacuum. The board still votes and they are smarter than he and Trump are.
100
Flash_ina_pan Apr 29, 2026 +87
That's a lot more faith than I have in the current systems of the US government. Edit: A quote comes to mind "Every Bison dollar will be worth five British pounds. That is the exchange rate that the Bank of England will implement after I kidnap their queen."
87
instant_ace Apr 29, 2026 +8
"Quick...change the channel!" Love that movie!
8
Eo292 Apr 29, 2026 +7
I mean if Trump wins the Cook case that really doesn’t matter much
7
Jewarlaho Apr 29, 2026 +11
It’s adorable how you think the US is still a democracy with checks and balances.
11
NWSiren Apr 30, 2026 +3
Exactly, he may be the Chair, but his vote is just one of the seven Governors (and Powell is staying on), and of those the majority have said they will keep rates the same pending developing data (and only data, rather than command of the executive branch). Even Warsh has been pushing back on Trump after he was the Kevin selected that the Fed will remain independent. Do I think the guy is a stooge - maybe, but he’s not all powerful in this and the majority of economists and lenders have predicted rates to stay the same (this maybe 0.25 point drop to the basis later in the year). Shit, J.P. Morgan even said in their latest brief that rates will go up marginally in 2027.
3
jimtow28 Apr 29, 2026 +28
And then immediately they'll blame Democrats for it, and dumb people everywhere will buy it without question.
28
mog44net Apr 29, 2026 +25
Treasury's money printer gonna be flying
25
Flash_ina_pan Apr 29, 2026 +22
Gonna go full Zimbabwe
22
OldJames47 Apr 29, 2026 +15
Cool, my mortgage payment and my grocery bill are going to be the same!
15
yunohavefunnynames Apr 29, 2026 +6
Yeah, too bad your wages won’t keep up!
6
Hoovooloo42 Apr 29, 2026 +1
....Maybe I *will* buy a car before that happens
1
OldJames47 Apr 29, 2026
Cool, my mortgage payment and my grocery bill are going to be the same!
0
redlee415 Apr 29, 2026 +5
Except Kevin doesn't believe in printing money and quantitative easing. He thinks the free market will adjust.
5
Theduckisback Apr 29, 2026 +26
"Every other dollar in the US investment portfolio needs to be going into AI investment, damn the consequences! I dont care what it means long term, I dont care whether these companies can ever be profitable! I dont care what the opportunity costs are! If we dont keep the stonks going up and helping out the gambling addicts on Wall Street then what's even the point of having economy? People buying goods and services they Need to live? Ugggh gross get that stupid shit OUT OF HERE!"
26
CRSPB Apr 29, 2026 +11
Luckily the full board votes on it, not just the chairman. Hopefully there’s some sanity remaining.
11
karsh36 Apr 29, 2026 +9
Powell doesn’t have that power, neither will Kevin. Powell’s just the one getting targeted, it’s a board that votes, and some of that board thought the rate should be raised
9
Flash_ina_pan Apr 29, 2026 +4
With the Cook case and Miran already there, he may get that power faster than you think.
4
No-Celebration3097 Apr 29, 2026 +3
Bingo. Everybody hold on tight.
3
jr2694 Apr 30, 2026 +1
Isn't he allegedly more of a "hawk"; preferring to have tighter purses and higher interest? Not that he'd increase or anything, but I think if it's true the last thing he'd do is a huge cut
1
raistan77 May 2, 2026 +1
He cant make that decision solo, they have to vote on it and it's not likely the rest will vote the way trump wants.  And Jerome is talking about staying on the board as a member so he gets to vote also
1
Flash_ina_pan May 2, 2026 +1
Largely depends on the Cook decision. I also don't count on any "They wouldn't/can't do that" statements when it comes to the extreme corruption that is happening. Because people keep saying "They wouldn't/can't do that" and that shit keeps happening.
1
KimJongFunk Apr 29, 2026 +136
This had the most dissents of any Fed decision [since 1992.](https://apnews.com/article/powell-warsh-trump-federal-reserve-inflation-4e09e4cdb25856635c94abe0021fc1d3). Three officials dissented in favor of removing the reference to a future cut and a fourth dissented in favor of an immediate rate cut.
136
Primary-Bookkeeper10 Apr 29, 2026 +150
We are so fucked come May 15th. The new chair is going to cut rates. Prices will briefly ease in some sectors, then there’ll be no recourse come the full weight of inflation & a recession. And Democrats will get blamed for not fixing it fast enough.
150
Agent62 Apr 29, 2026 +77
The Fed chair doesn't decide that, it's a vote by everyone and Jerome Powell is staying on as a governor until 2028.
77
azsnaz Apr 30, 2026 +3
Does it need to be unanimous?
3
MaxPower91575 Apr 30, 2026 +16
simple majority. They try to get unanimous votes but as you can see here things didn't go to plan and probably won't for the near future.
16
Mrchristopherrr Apr 29, 2026 +72
Nah, Democrats will be blamed for causing it like Obama and the Great Recession and Biden with Covid.
72
ShredGuru Apr 29, 2026 +33
Bro. Republicans would chew glass if you told them it would own the libs. They believe anything as long as it's a lie.
33
55498586368 Apr 29, 2026 +19
You don't know what you are talking about. The fed chair is just one of 12 voting members of the FOMC; he cannot just cut rates by himself.
19
SarellaalleraS Apr 29, 2026 -9
Sure but you’re underestimating the power of the Fed Chair to lead policy in-meeting and through press announcements, staffing, etc.
-9
roosterthumper Apr 29, 2026 +15
He doesn’t have the votes to cut rates.
15
xynith116 Apr 29, 2026 +11
The silver lining is we still have 2.5 years until the 2028 election. So there’s plenty of time for things to get fucked under Trump and the Republicans. So hopefully it’ll be more like a 2007-2008 situation than the 2022-2024 inflation which was really mostly due to COVID and Russia.
11
Mrchristopherrr Apr 29, 2026 +10
Still calling it that the AI bubble is going to burst in spring/summer 2028.
10
xynith116 Apr 29, 2026 +5
Sooner I hope, but the current Fed environment is bearish for AI imo, not bullish.
5
MattAlex99 Apr 30, 2026 +2
It's because you can reasonably defend either decision: lower rate means an inflation spike (bad), higher rate reduces inflation but slows the economy even more (also bad). This is the problem with the dual mandate and why e.g. the ECB does not have it (for a fun game to get your hammered: take a shot every time Powell mentions dual mandate in the next press conference)
2
jawstrock Apr 29, 2026 +53
Stagflation. Let's do this thang. A weak, struggling economy with an oil crisis throw on top of it. So good!
53
ArdaBerkBurak Apr 29, 2026 +61
There is no reason to lower the interest rate; oil prices have surged because Trump attacked Iran, creating inflationary pressure.
61
roosterthumper Apr 29, 2026 +18
Which is why they voted to not cut them. They will not vote to cut them while we have all these inflationary pressures. If the job market moves they may raise them. All this fear over the new chairman isn’t silly, the Fed is still the board and they are not puppets.
18
whatisdigrat Apr 29, 2026 +3
Him and his ilk are straight real estate brain. That's the only lens they have
3
Alone-in-a-crowd-1 Apr 29, 2026 +14
Ratres should go up due to inflation. I presume that this will just devalue the dollar.
14
roosterthumper Apr 29, 2026 +18
Can’t go up because we are in such a bad job market too. Steady is about the best move they could make.
18
minus_minus Apr 29, 2026 +13
Meanwhile the Trump administration is paying companies to NOT build more renewable energy sources. SMH 
13
KinkyPaddling Apr 29, 2026 +10
Powell basically gave Trump a checklist last year of things not to do if he wants interest rates to come down, and Trump took it as a “to do” list instead.
10
Old-n-Wrinkly Apr 29, 2026 +3
Powell’s not leaving, that’s impressive. Either way works. If rates go down, Average Republican Joe is screwed before midterms.
3
Sideview_play Apr 30, 2026 +2
Imagine our economy without the tariffs and wars / other conflicts + spending on ICE. Oh well. 
2
porkbuttstuff Apr 29, 2026 +2
We're so fucked when they cut rates.
2
YodaForceGhost Apr 29, 2026 +7
Last rate hold before sweeping cuts in the coming weeks and months ahead
7
roosterthumper Apr 29, 2026 +17
Fed isn’t going to vote to cut rates, inflation is running too hot. Only reason they held steady is that the job market sucks too. The new chairman isn’t suddenly going to change how they are all voting.
17
xynith116 Apr 29, 2026 +18
Yeah 3 of the dissenters literally said they want to remove references to future rate cuts. The chairman doesn’t have unilateral power over the rates. Trump would have to replace a majority of the board to get what he wants (not that he wouldn’t try). The thing is we don’t know if Trump understands how the Fed board works. He might actually think the chairman sets the rates by themselves. So the Republicans might be allowing Warsh to be nominated (who is actually an inflation hawk) just to placate Trump for the moment without letting him f*** up the entire financial system.
18
Bluinc Apr 30, 2026 +1
ELI5 how rate cuts increase inflation? While I 100% despise Trump, I personally am hoping rates tank so I can finally take out an affordable home improvement loan.
1
smoothcriminal562 Apr 30, 2026 +2
Things become more "affordable" and then it's supply and demand. Increased spending outpacing the economic supply. With lower rates, having money in your savings becomes less intriguing and tends to have people spend more now. Housing, cars, food, things of that nature have more money going to it now so inflation happens. That good home loan would be nice for you to have now, but as the cost of everything else goes up as a result of that, you'll be paying the money you "saved" on other things that now cost more
2
Bluinc Apr 30, 2026 +1
I guess for lower middle class ppl like me and above it’s a wash but I can see where it’s really damaging to the poor. Thanks for your explanation.
1
GreyBeardEng Apr 29, 2026 +1
Powell being there is probably one of the few things that prevented our economy from entirely crashing. When Powell is gone Trump is going to go in there and he's going to change the rates and we're going to see prices go through the roof, but he won't care because it doesn't affect him personally.
1
← Back to Board